


Cuddle Away The Cold

by Squishy (BurbleJerry)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Snow, Spoilers, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), lion deer joint route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21574336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurbleJerry/pseuds/Squishy
Summary: Claude scouts for the joint Alliance & Faerghus army, but a sudden blizzard gives him a… cold reception.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 16
Kudos: 177





	Cuddle Away The Cold

Claude didn’t scout often during the war. He was good at it, obviously, being a sneaky individual on a very fast wyvern, but he was usually too valuable to risk. Normally, he didn’t mind; after all, he had strategies to plan.

Unfortunately, the battle to retake Fhirdiad had injured more of their fliers then expected. Claude had quickly realized that if he scouted, he could prevent some of their hurt wyverns from having to take flight since they couldn’t afford to run into any enemies. So the leader of the Alliance found himself flying far from the resting army, his white wyvern blending in better with the cloudy sky. He was not used to the snowy environment of Faerghus, but he was confident in his ability to scout and return on a clear day.

The day did not stay clear. Sure, it was clear enough for Claude to fly far, far from the army’s resting site. But as he considered turning back, the wind picked up, snow began to fall, and he quickly realized that a blizzard was upon him. He cursed himself for failing to recognize the signs, even as he tried to guide his wyvern back to the others. But no matter where he flew, he couldn’t see the army, nor the town. Then the trees began to disappear, and he knew that if he continued in this weather, he’d lose track of sky and ground altogether.

Luckily, Claude could order his wyvern via the reigns, as he doubted he’d even hear himself shout in the worsening weather. He guided her down, struggling to find shelter without running her into the trees.

Then she dove, abruptly, and Claude let her superior senses guide them into a clearing. Snow kicked up everywhere and she squalled as she ran into some trees, branches rattling above them and dropping even more snow on them. He slid down from her back from memory, as he was growing too numb to properly feel his way down, and paid for it by falling face-first into even more snow. It took him a moment to realize his wyvern was nudging him, which he barely felt.

Claude managed to wrap his arms around her snoot and pull himself up, coughing some of the snow that he’d swallowed. He patted her and smiled ruefully, “At least you’re here. Maybe we won’t freeze to death--”

Claude’s wyvern made an anxious sound and, in a flurry of snowfall, took off. Claude stared after her in mute shock. His wyvern would never betray him, right? She was only recently trained, but they’d worked so well together-- then he realized: his wyvern was going to get help. He hoped. Except, how would she find her way back? How would she find him again? What was she thinking?

With a sigh, Claude curled up at the trunk of a tree, trying to avoid the worst of the blizzard. His outfit for Faerghus was made for the cold, but this was more than the usual cold. He couldn’t feel much of anything, and the weather wasn't letting up. He realized he wasn’t shivering, and then realized he wasn’t as alarmed as he should be by that fact. Instead, he was growing drowsy.

“Come back soon,” he muttered through chattering teeth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claude was taking a while to return. Dimitri stared out the window, where all he could see was the raging blizzard; no trees, no sky, not even the ground were visible against the whirling snowstorm.

Dimitri returned to pacing in his room, frowning. The town the army was staying in had been generous, and the inn was, luckily, empty enough to let most of their forces rest in the same building. Yet they had needed another scout, and Claude had volunteered. The idea had seemed sound, up until the weather turned sour and he’d realized that Claude was still out there somewhere.

Then the building creaked and shook as something huge slammed into it. Dimitri heard the familiar cry of a specific wyvern and was running outside before he knew it. He raced out the door, ignoring the icy wind that stung his face and tugged at his heavy cloak. Turning the building, he saw Claude’s white wyvern, pressed against the sheltering side of the building and cooing in alarm.

Dimitri’s heart leapt into his throat. He didn’t stop to think, he didn’t listen to reason. Instead, he called out, catching the wyvern’s attention and ignoring her startled squawk as he scrambled up on her back, up to her saddle. He had minimal training in wyvern-riding, but at that moment he would have ridden The Immaculate One itself if it meant reaching Claude.

“Go!” shouted Dimitri. He was distantly aware of some of his comrades chasing after, of their shouting, or their scurrying, but then the great white wings rose, and all he saw was white, all he felt was wind, and all he could focus on was icy fear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was numb, and sluggish, and distant. The world refused to focus: his eyes couldn’t open, the noises around him refused to make sense, his limbs wouldn’t twitch. He was barely aware of someone else being present, of some vague feeling surrounding him.

Eventually, his bones no longer felt frozen. Experimentally, he twitched his fingers, then his toes, making sure they still worked. It took effort before his eyes would open, barely, the world fuzzy and unfocused. He squinted at the vaguely yellow blob in his vision, fighting the lingering sleepy haze, and realized he could hear someone talking. Their familiar voice became clearer and clearer as they, no, as he repeated himself.

“Claude? … Claude, can you hear me? Please… please, say something. We… we can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.”

Claude blinked slowly as Dimitri’s face came into focus. He saw Dima’s single blue eye widen, and the relief on the new king’s face was the warmest thing Claude felt.

Then Claude realized that he was cold, and shivering, yet warmth was slowly making itself known again. He turned his head slightly and saw dark fuzz, and beyond that a fireplace, and realized he was cocooned in some sort of blanket. Looking back up, he further realized that Dimitri was very close. Then his eyes widened as he realized Dimitri’s arms were holding him so close.

“D--” Claude coughed from his dry throat before he forced himself to speak slower, and not to wince at his rough voice. “Dimitri… how… did you…?”

“Your wyvern found her way back to us,” Dimitri explained; Claude had grown lucid enough to feel Dima’s strong arms pull him just a bit closer, somehow. “I flung myself upon her, and she led us back to you. You were… ashen, you felt as cold as ice, but fortunately, it seems we managed to rescue you in time. How do you feel?”

Claude squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, relieved that it was getting easier to keep them open. “Tired… and cold, but getting warmer.” He managed to smile, though it wasn’t his best; but it was enough to see Dimitri’s face relax. “Hey… have you been holding me this whole time? That’s… pretty touching,” he teased.

Dimitri’s cheeks turned pink. “Claude, of course I have been, you needed the warmth to recover…” he trailed off at Claude’s surprised expression. “What? That’s how you treat overexposure to the cold. It’s something that almost everyone in Faerghus learns about.”

“Makes sense,” Claude said, just so he could try to salvage his reaction. He’d expected Dimitri to be serious about the matter, but the way Dimitri gazed upon him with such worry, the way he felt Dimitri’s warmth and closeness… the fluttering in his chest… He pasted on something closer to his usual mask of a smile. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m doing better. Thanks for saving my life; I guess I owe you now, huh?” Then he yawned, wide, hardly needing to fake any fatigue, “Now, I think I better nap--”

“No, you need to stay awake,” Dimitri said, much to Claude’s dismay; he’d wanted to sleep through the rest of ‘being held by handsome man’ time. “Until you’ve recovered enough, it can be dangerous to fall asleep.”

“Got it.” Claude coughed a bit more and shifted to get comfortable. In the process, his foot twitched against part of the blanket, revealing blue cloth. He squinted at the fabric, then up at Dimitri as realization sunk in. “Hold on, am I wrapped up in your cloak?”

“Well, yes,” Dimitri admitted, his cheeks turning pink. “We were struggling to help you, and I flung my cloak around you as soon as possible. Do you want a blanket instead?”

“Oh, no, this is fine. This is touching, in fact.” The thought of Dimitri rushing pell-mell to not only save his life but treat him made Claude keenly aware of how close they were. More than that, now that he was warmer, his returning sense of touch informed him of many other things. “Very touching. So… so, so very touching. Where are my pants?”

Dimitri’s blush spread to the very tips of his ears. “Ah… well, when treating someone for hypothermia, it is… that is, their… your… clothes are too cold, so removing them is… part of the treatment. Nobody saw anything inappropriate, if, if that’s why you’re worried…?” At Claude’s raised brow, he sheepishly added, “The healers did, of course, but they don’t care about such things.”

Claude knew this to be true, at least for the healers that had come along to the Fhirdiad mission. “That’s reassuring. Not everyone can handle that sight, after all.” He winked and felt relieved when Dimitri frowned at him. That meant his friend wasn’t worried about his health anymore, at least not enough to be overly serious. Further, that meant he was probably going to be fine.

“If you like, you seem warm enough to be left by the fire,” Dimitri offered.

Claude shook his head. “Nah, I think you better stay here and keep talking to me. I’m still feeling pretty drowsy.” As embarrassed as Claude felt to be so coddled, a part of him enjoyed the closeness and warmth and… feelings. He decided the best way to sort out his emotions would be to let Dimitri keep helping him: he could try to work out what he felt, why he felt it, and what he’d do about it while he warmed up. He could dwell on how safe he felt in Dimitri’s arms.

Dimitri peered at him closely, then he nodded. “I understand, but I warn you, I’m not the best at small talk.”

“That’s fine. I can chatter enough for the both of us.” Claude smiled, and was rewarded with a slight smile in return. “Just say something back every now and then, ok?”

“I will do my best,” Dimitri promised, and true to his word, he did.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been awhile since I’ve looked stuff up on how to warm people up, so uh, don’t take this at face value or use this as a guide against hypothermia.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please leave a kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed! If you like my work, then please consider checking out my personal/writing https://twitter.com/Squishy_Jerry !


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